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Cognitive and Affective Processes in Collection Development By Brian Quinn

The selection process in collection management has been characterized as based primarily on logical, rational thinking processes. Psychologists, however, have discovered that judgment and decision making are not exclusively cognitive func- tions. They depend instead on a complex interaction between and cogni- tion, and thought. This paper attempts to explore some of these interactive processes and how they potentially influence the selection process in collection development. Some implications for how selectors approach their work are dis- cussed as well.

any of the most important decisions that are made in libraries involve col- Mlection development and management. Decisions about whether to add new titles or to cancel existing ones are often complicated and stressful because they frequently involve the commitment or redistribution of limited funds. Often the outcome of the decision affects not only librarians but also stakeholders outside the library. For academic libraries, these constituents include faculty, students, and sometimes the community. Decisions by public and school librar- ians are often made with parents, school boards, library trustees, and municipal officials in mind. Given its importance, librarians have attempted to analyze the process of decision making for collection development. This process has been depicted in the library literature as being a thoughtful, reasonable, rational one that is fundamentally logical and deliberative. Psychologists have examined decision- making processes in much more depth and detail than librarians. The psychologi- cal literature indicates that decision making is not simply a cognitive or thinking process. Rather, it depends to a significant extent on affect or . The pur- pose of this paper is to examine the psychological research on decision making and explore the implications of revisioning collection development decisions as being not simply matters of the head but also matters of the heart. Standard works on collection development generally depict the selection process as a mental process but not an emotional one. Hamlin states that selec- tion requires the selector to understand the needs of the user and know which resources to consult to locate appropriate material.1 The selector must be able to differentiate suitable sources from unsuitable ones, and evaluate the quality of the materials. The decision-making process also involves being able to reconcile the amount and cost of the material under consideration with the budget that the selector has to work with. A selector also needs to be aware of how much mate- rial the library already owns on a topic and whether further material is needed, Brian Quinn ([email protected]) is and also if similar material may be available in a nearby collection. The selection Social Sciences Librarian and Coor- process that Hamlin depicts is thus exclusively cognitive, with no reference to dinator of Collection Development at Texas Tech University, Lubbock. affect or emotion. 6 Quinn LRTS 51(1)

A similarly strong emphasis on the cognitive aspects recognition, diagnosis, search, design, screening, evaluation/ of decision making can be found in Atkinson’s hypotheti- choice, and authorization.4 The kinds of thought processes cal model of the selection process.2 Selection decisions are she describes, however, are cognitive. Recognizing gaps in based on the context in which the selector places a work. the collection, searching catalogs, and scanning reviews, The elements of the citation itself, such as author, title, determining the characteristics of materials needed, iden- publisher, and date, provide the syntagmatic context. The tifying the optimal way to obtain the material, identifying ability to recognize these elements and how they influence the most effective source, making a final evaluation of the one another is an important aspect of the selector’s thought source, and then authorizing it, are all processes that involve process in decision making. Additional cues that help the thinking rather than affect or feeling. Kovacs advises selec- selector evaluate the work are subject headings, annotations, tors that they need to avoid unconscious decisions, and reviews, the work itself, and the user, which are referred to that selection is based on awareness of needs and materials as the contexts of supplementation. Recognizing the impor- rather than intuition. Her model emphasizes cognitive pro- tance of other citations that may be found with the citation cesses to the exclusion of affective ones. in question and the source in which the citations are found Mental processes related to decision making in the may provide indirect supplementation. The third context is selection process are described by Williams, who believes known as the contexts of resolution, which itself includes that a selector must possess the ability to recognize impor- three contexts. The first of these, the archival context, refers tant works in a field, which she labels a cognitive skill.5 She to the selector’s understanding of what is already available in describes recognition as a function of memory and dis- the collection. The communal context is based on the selec- cusses various psychological theories of how memory works. tor’s knowledge of the needs and interests of the community Williams suggests that novice selectors create written lists of users being selected for. The thematic context involves of canonical authors and works to prime their memories for the selector’s understanding of publication trends in the recognition of important works. The author draws openly subject matter. The final decision-making process consists from the literature of cognitive psychology in describing of the selector connecting or relating the elements of the schema theory and how a selector’s prior knowledge will citation to the source and to the contexts of resolution. The improve the ability to recognize and recall information core mental processes mentioned in this model—recogni- about related material. She makes no mention of affective tion, understanding, and relating—are cognitive or thinking processes in her model. processes. Affect or emotion does not seem to play a role. The highly rationalized, cognitive model is perhaps Although less theoretical than Atkinson’s model of carried to its extreme in the optimalized model of decision selection, the six categories of selection criteria proposed making outlined by Losee.6 He draws upon logic, math- by Rutledge and Swindler are similarly cognitive.3 These ematics, and economics to suggest that materials selection include discerning the subject of a work, evaluating its intel- could be computerized and done by a machine. He notes lectual content, predicting the amount of use a work will get that human decision making may not be completely rational based on the selector’s knowledge of users, understanding and that selectors may engage in satisficing behavior that, how the work relates to the rest of the collection, biblio- while not optimal, is adequate enough to meet a certain graphic considerations such as reputation of the publisher, standard established by the selector. Optimal selection deci- format of the material, and language of the work. To further sions are rational ones that result in titles of maximal utility rationalize the selection process, the authors prioritize the to the user, and selectors can estimate the probability of a criteria and refine the process by creating three priority title’s value from the reputation of the publisher, the author, levels: the library must, should, or could add the title. They or from reviews. This model relies heavily on formal - then attempt to quantify the model so that each criterion ing and logic and does not acknowledge any emotional or receives a weighting based on its overall importance and affective dimension of human behavior. each title can then be given a numeric score. In this model, In his book, Developing Library and Information selection is reduced to a rational calculus, a precise science Center Collections, Evans outlines a system of thinking that devoid of any affective dimension. Although they character- he recommends selectors use for each title.7 It is a series of ize their model of selection as “holistic,” it is exclusively questions the selector asks him- or herself, which includes based on a reasonable, rational, mental model that seems questions about whether the subject of the title falls within reductionist because it does not take into account emotional the scope of the collection, whether it is of to the processes. library’s users, how much similar material the library already In her book, The Decision-Making Process for Library owns, whether the price of the title is within the selector’s Collections: Case Studies in Four Types of Libraries, Kovacs budget, what the reputation of the author or publisher is, attempts to identify the thought processes involved in and whether the source of information describing the title selection by categorizing them according to seven routines: is valid. The overall approach is a systematic and logical one 51(1) LRTS Cognitive and Affective Processes in Collection Management 7

based on cognitive thought processes rather than affect. The is best? How does it compare with similar titles? A selector Evans model outlines a process of thinking through the sig- may have difficulty processing the many variables and doing nificance of a title, and there is no reference to emotion. so quickly. A similar approach to selection is taken by Clayton and Given the high level of uncertainty inherent in making Gorman in their work, Managing Information Resources in collection management decisions, the process cannot be Libraries: Collection Management in Theory and Practice.8 regarded as strictly logical, analytical, and rational. A signifi- In addition to listing some basic criteria for selection, such cant element of subjectivity and guesswork makes collection as author, scope and treatment of the work, organization, development decisions vulnerable to typical human short- and format, they also discuss some general principles related comings such as emotion, , impulsivity, and caprice. In to the selection process. A selector must keep informed order to avoid mental overload and fatigue caused by trying about the selection process itself by continually reading the to take into account all the factors that should be considered library literature. The critical factor in effective selection is in making good decisions, psychologists have discovered that a thorough understanding of the library’s goals, the collec- people make use of heuristics, which are cognitive shortcuts tion, and those who use it. The selector should have a firm or rules of thumb designed to simplify and expedite the grasp of how publishers and booksellers operate, and learn decision-making process. the reputation of each. Becoming familiar with sources of Such simplifications can lead to cognitive . For reviews and the reviews themselves is important, along with example, a selector might encounter two resources that have knowledge of bibliographies. Well-researched and indepen- similar content and format, but one is more expensive. If the dent decisions are a goal to be strived for consistently and selector believes that the higher in quality a resource is, the can be achieved by following these principles. The emphasis more expensive it will be, he or she may decide to purchase of the authors on learning, understanding, and knowledge the more expensive resource. Biases may be affective as would suggest that they see selection decisions as cognitive well as cognitive. People, experience, events, and objects in nature. No reference to emotion or affect is included in are embedded in memory and are emotionally charged or their explanation. vested with positive or negative associations and . Knowledge alone does not result in skilled selec- If a selector encounters a title having to do with structural tion; experience and intuition also play a role according equation modeling, and he or she has read books before on to Johnson in her book, The Fundamentals of Collection this topic and found them to be boring or poorly written, Development and Management.9 However, knowledge in the memory of those experiences along with the negative the form of familiarity with selection tools, as well as under- associated with them may predispose the selector standing the goals of the library and the needs of its users, is to be reluctant to select the book or to select related titles fundamental. Other kinds of knowledge, such as familiarity for the collection.11 with collection-development policies and with the subject This suggests that the decision-making process in col- areas being collected are also basic. Drawing on Peter lection development is not only not exclusively logical or M. Senge’s distinction between learning and mastery, the rational; it is also not simply cognitive. In addition to think- author believes that collection-development skills can be ing or , emotion or affect is also involved. The learned, but that mastery only occurs with practice.10 The relationship between these two psychological factors is a beginning selector must make a diligent and continual men- subject that has attracted the of psychologists and tal effort to learn and follow correct practices before they philosophers as far back as Plato and Aristotle. These early become automatic or unconscious. Over time the practices Greek thinkers tended to consider reason—their term for become so internalized that they are no longer conscious cognition—as being in conflict with , which was the but become subliminal and effortless. The emphasis on ancients’ equivalent of affect. knowledge, skills, theory, and practice indicates that this is Plato thought that reason was the higher of the two primarily a cognitive model, and that emotion or affect is functions. In his view, reason served to keep passion under not a factor. control. Aristotle took this idea even further by suggest- Making decisions about whether to purchase a book, ing that passion depends on reason. He defined , for cancel a journal, or add a database or aggregated package example, as a form of belief that one was being treated is often fraught with uncertainty and ambiguity. Except in unfairly.12 An emotion such as anger is thus the result of rare instances in which a title obviously fills the need of a certain thoughts or that may ultimately lead to faculty member or student, the subject selector will face a aggressive behavior. host of questions that are not always easily answered. Who The debate over the relationship between cognition will use the resource? How frequently will it be used? Will and affect continues among psychologists and philosophers. users like it? Could the funds be better spent on a different Psychologists have recently shown a growing interest in resource? Does it fill a gap in the collection? Which format the role of emotion in the decision-making process. Some 8 Quinn LRTS 51(1)

researchers now believe that affect not only influences cog- Emotions, Moods, and Decisions nition, but that emotions steer cognitive activity in particular directions. Affect predisposes thought toward certain emo- Psychological research suggests that different types of affect tionally congruent interpretations, plans, and actions.13 As a have different kinds of effects on cognition. An important selector thinks through a collection-development decision, distinction is how emotions differ from moods. Emotions his or her thoughts may be influenced toward a particular generally tend to be relatively brief but strong emotional outcome as a result of experiencing a particular emotion or states that are easily recognizable and have an identifiable mood. origin and significant cognitive associations such as pre- cipitating incidents and strategies for what to do. Moods, in contrast, tend to be less intense, less focused on a particular Research on Affect and Decision Making incident, and longer in duration than emotions. One is more likely to be in a good mood or bad mood without read- Psychologists have compiled a variety of experimental evi- ily being able to attribute the mood to a particular cause. dence that suggests ways in which emotions may influence Selectors need to pay attention to their mood states when decisions. One such experiment involved 165 undergradu- making collection-development decisions. Individuals tend ate students who were asked to decide whether they wanted to be less conscious of their moods and do not monitor one of two snacks as a reward for participating in the study: a them as closely as emotions, so that the effects of moods on piece of chocolate cake with cherry topping or a fruit salad.14 decision making can be more subtle but also more sustained Before choosing, the students were divided into two groups. and more significant precisely because they are less subject One group was asked to memorize a seven-digit number to a person’s awareness. Emotions and moods also affect one and the other, a two-digit number. The results of the experi- another.15 Strong emotions can leave a person in a particular ment indicated that the students who were required to mood after they subside, just as a particular mood can pre- memorize the seven-digit number chose the chocolate cake, dispose someone to certain kinds of emotional reactions. while the students who memorized the two-digit number Affect is important to cognition in decision mak- chose the fruit salad. The researchers who conducted the ing because it influences what and how people think. experiment saw this as an indication that when students’ Psychologists suspect that positive moods may serve to cognitive-processing resources were consumed by having compromise decision making by reducing the attentional to memorize the seven-digit number, they made their deci- capacity of the person. Positive moods may also activate sion based on affective reactions and chose the chocolate positive memories and associations that serve to distract a cake. Their impulsive emotional side was able to gain the selector from pertinent information about a title. Individuals upper hand in the decision-making process because their in a positive mood may also consciously seek to maintain rational analytical side was preoccupied with remembering this pleasant state by seeking to avoid any information that the seven-digit number. On the other hand, the students may introduce critical, negative elements or require mental who only had to memorize the two-digit number had more exertion or complicated cognitive processing. The amount cognitive resources available to analyze their decision more of concentration necessary to make a careful considered thoroughly, enabling them to make a prudent, rational, sen- selection may not be compatible with feeling good.16 From sible choice of the healthier fruit salad. an evolutionary standpoint, positive moods may reduce The results of the experiment have interesting implica- cognitive activity because they indicate to the brain that tions for collection development. The experiment suggests one can relax and feel protected, while negative moods may that librarians should tend to make more prudent selec- trigger a call for alertness or vigilant thinking. A combina- tion decisions to the extent that they base their decisions tion of these processes may be involved, depending on the on cognition rather than affect. Any aspects of work that particular situation. are allowed to interfere with cognitive processing such as Extrapolating from this, it seems plausible that the more competing demands, deadlines, or budget concerns may positive a selector’s mood, the more likely it is that the person be likely to result in poorer quality, more affect-based deci- will adopt a superficial, disengaged process of approaching a sions. Selection that is affect-based is more likely to involve collection-development decision. Happy selectors will tend irrationality and impulsivity, which generally results in poor to downplay the complexity of the decision and make use of choices. The selection process in collection development, mental shortcuts or generalizations. They will tend to make thus, may be only a logical, rational, analytical process to decisions more quickly and may not bother to consider all the extent that cognitive resources are available and are not the factors that may be involved in making a decision. They consumed by other tasks or issues. may not make the effort to scrutinize a title carefully, so that any shortcomings are more likely to be revealed. 51(1) LRTS Cognitive and Affective Processes in Collection Management 9

Affect may influence cognitive processes that are ability of a person to remember. The results of the experi- important to decision making in other ways, such as ment indicate that affect is an important factor in attention, memory. Memory is important to decision making because decision making, and memory. selectors use it to inform decisions. Selectors often draw The experiment has several implications for collection on past experience to make decisions which may include development. It suggests that selectors will be more likely subject knowledge or knowledge about librarianship, and it to notice and attend to particular titles or products that is memory that plays a critical role in supplying this informa- match their emotional state. The selector for literature who tion. The affective state of an individual tends to facilitate happens to be in an upbeat mood may find Tom Stoppard’s the recall of emotionally-congruent material stored in the comedies more interesting purchases for the collection than person’s memory.17 The selector who is in a negative mood those of Eugene O’Neill. The selector might rate them and feeling depressed or anxious may more readily recall more highly or as more necessary to the collection or a bet- negative reminiscences because they match his or her emo- ter value. Particular titles by Stoppard may be more easily tional state. recalled than those of O’Neill. Another example might be In a study conducted of college students, participants the selector for psychology who may be in a melancholy were asked to study words with positive, negative, or neutral frame of mind. For this selector, titles having to do with associations.18 They were then asked to produce associations may seem a more compelling purchase choice to the material they had studied. Students not only recalled than those dealing with other topics. These examples sug- more studied than nonstudied words, but depressed stu- gest how affect might play a role in the crucial cognitive dents produced more associations to negative words, while processes such as selection and evaluation, which are part of nondepressed students remembered more positive words. collection development. Mood-congruent memory has been found to work not only Affect may play a role in how people respond to with depressed individuals but also with natural mood states products, and how they respond to the way in which those that people experience in their everyday lives.19 products are marketed. Different types of moods may help to determine how individuals react to the way in which titles are advertised. In an experiment designed to test the Affect, Attention, and Judgments effect of mood on receptivity to advertising, 120 university students were given either a happy or sad story to read, Evidence from several psychological experiments suggests designed to induce either a positive or negative mood.21 In that affect may play an important role in what subjects order to help them become aware of their mood, they were attend to. Emotion and mood can serve an orienting func- then asked to record the feelings that the story produced in tion by channeling attention toward or away from various them as they read it. The subjects were then given either an environmental stimuli. People attend to stimuli selectively, emotional or an informational ad for cookies. The emotional and objects that are emotionally significant are given priority ad showed a group of people at a party enjoying cookies in in the competition for attention. the background, with a colored plate of the cookies in the This suggests that affect determines whether a given foreground. The informational ad featured a color photo of object is emotionally important. In one psychological experi- the cookies with ten lines of advertising copy describing the ment, participants rated happy, sad, or neutral pictures brand. Subjects were asked to read the ad they were given presented to them by an experimenter who was in either and then complete the questionnaire designed to mea- a neutral, happy, or sad mood.20 When participants were sure how the subjects felt about the ad. The results of the shown the pictures, those who were exposed to the happy experiment indicated that subjects who were induced into experimenter spent more time looking at the happy pic- a positive mood reacted more favorably to the emotional tures. Those exposed to the sad experimenter focused ad. Subjects who had been placed in a negative mood were more on the sad pictures. When asked to rate the pictures, more favorable to the informational ad. The experimenters participants exposed to the happy experimenter gave more explained the results by suggesting that the more serious positive ratings. Participants exposed to the sad experi- fact-based ad may have been perceived by happy subjects as menter gave more negative evaluations. Exposure to the excessively somber and dry. In contrast, subjects in a nega- neutral experimenter had no effect on how much time the tive mood may have resented the emotional ad because it participants spent looking at neutral pictures or how they depicted a group of people having a good time and enjoying rated them. Affect influenced attention and also played a themselves. role in the memory of the participants. Participants recalled This suggests that selectors may react favorably or more pictures that matched their mood, and those partici- unfavorably to how a title is advertised, depending on their pants exposed to the sad experimenter also suffered from mood. Advertising for books, journals, databases, and elec- impaired memory. This is how typically affects the tronic products has becomes increasingly sophisticated. It 10 Quinn LRTS 51(1)

has evolved from a largely rational informational mode into appears immediately afterward, the selector may be less more emotional and image-based appeals. Whether this likely to detect the second title if it does not have the emo- trend proves to be effective may depend on how selectors tional impact or salience of the first title. With much book are feeling at the time of selection. For those vendors that selection being conducted online these days, a selector using use a combination of both emotional and informational the Barnes and Noble or Amazon database who is search- appeals, it may depend on how the mix affects a given selec- ing through a succession of titles on a particular subject tor. Product content alone may thus not be the only factor and encounters a title of emotional significance may be influencing a selector’s decision. How a title is presented more prone to overlook another useful but more affectively may also play a role. neutral title if it appears soon after the emotionally impor- Mood may also influence decision making in another tant one. That is because the selector’s attention has been way. In one study, when research participants were asked monopolized or captured by the earlier title. Arousing titles to make a judgment about whether to purchase a car, they distract attention from titles of potentially equal merit that readily did so.22 But when the information presented about may be less arousing. They provide a greater resistance to the car was difficult to understand or was sketchy, respon- attentional interferences or capture from competing titles, dents tended to rely on contextual cues in order to arrive and this resistance manifests itself in the form of temporal at a decision. The contextual cue that they relied on most persistence. Thus when an affect-laden title is the second was their mood. Mood may become a particularly important target, it enhances awareness and detection, but when it factor with complex products such as electronic resources or appears as the first target, it may result in a kind of inatten- for products in which adequate information is unavailable, tional blindness on the part of selector for the second title. such as new titles. Emotion can affect attentional orientation, the elements of the environment to which a selector attends.23 Negative Mood-Congruent Decision Making stimuli have been found to attract more attention than posi- tive stimuli. Psychologists believe that this may be the result When selectors are faced with a decision about whether to of evolutionary development, which made it necessary to choose a title for the collection, an important factor in the remain attentive to threats to an individual’s well-being in decision-making process is cognitive capacity. This refers to order to adapt and survive. Not only will individuals orient the amount of cognitive resources that are available to make more quickly to threats, they appear to be particularly sensi- the decision. If information about the title is inadequate, tive to threats specifically related to their emotional states. ambiguous, or outdated, or if too much information or In experiments using a Stroop task, subjects were asked to conflicting or contradictory information is available, more name the color a word is printed in and ignore its semantic cognitive resources will be needed. If competing tasks or meaning.24 Subjects who are afraid of snakes were distracted time pressure are involved, this will increase the need for by words related to snakes such as “venom” or “rattler,” cognitive resources. while subjects who are socially anxious fixated on words like In circumstances where cognitive resources such as “outcast” or “ostracize.” Thus a selector who is anxious about attention, learning, memory, and reasoning are insufficient, crime or health or finances may be more attracted to titles research by Schwartz suggests the selector may turn to having to do with these subjects, may notice them more eas- mood-congruent emotions and associations.28 The material ily among a group of titles, and may be more predisposed is primed to be more accessible to the selector if it matches to value them or assign them significance than someone his or her mood. If the selector is in a negative mood, he without such an emotional investment. or she may more easily recall a negative review of the title Psychologists use the “attentional blink” phenomenon than a positive one. If the selector is in a positive mood, a to study aspects of the way emotion influences attention.25 memory of similar titles receiving frequent use may come Attentional blink occurs when a series of visual stimuli are to mind. A selector will be more likely to evaluate a title presented in rapid succession, a procedure known as Rapid positively or negatively and render a favorable or unfavor- Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP).26 The subject is asked to able decision to the extent that he or she is in a positive or detect two targets. If the targets are presented in very rapid negative mood. succession, the subject is no longer able to recognize the Emotions are involved in decision making in two dif- second target, provided that it is affectively neutral. If the ferent ways. Immediate emotions are feelings that are expe- second target is emotionally arousing (in either a pleasant rienced at the time a decision needs to be made. They can or unpleasant way), however, detection improves.27 This affect a selector’s decision by having a direct impact (i.e., indicates that emotion influences attention, and suggests the way a selector immediately feels about the particular that in situations in which a selector discovers a title that title being considered) or an indirect impact (i.e., the selec- is emotionally relevant and another title of possible value tor happens to have been in a preexisting positive mood 51(1) LRTS Cognitive and Affective Processes in Collection Management 11

that day, which is enough to sway him or her to purchase make the person more likely to make use of bias and stereo- the title despite any immediate reservations he or she may types in decisions. In one experiment, happy, neutral, and have had). The other way that emotions influence decision sad participants were recruited and provided with detailed making is through expected emotions. This kind of emotion information about a new model of car.33 One version of the refers to predictions that selectors make about the affec- information described the car as being a highly prestigious tive outcome of different action scenarios. The predictions brand while the other depicted it as a less prestigious brand. are used in selecting actions designed to enhance positive The results strongly support a connection between mood emotions and minimize negative feelings.29 For example, a and stereotyping. Happy subjects were greatly influenced by selector might be considering the purchase of an expensive the prestige of the brand. Sad participants were not affected database, but might also anticipate how disappointed he or by the prestige of the brand and tended to focus more on she would then feel if the use statistics turn out to be low. In details about the car than its perceived image. The implica- order to avoid experiencing the expected , tion is that selectors in an upbeat mood will be more likely the selector might then feel dissuaded from purchasing the to be favorably predisposed toward titles from prestigious database. publishers and vendors when attempting to decide what to Feelings become increasingly important in decisions purchase. to the extent that the product is unfamiliar or that informa- Negative mood may also prejudice how a person evalu- tion about it is unavailable or ambiguous. In such instances, ates a product. Evidence of this effect can be found in a selectors may turn to emotions to fill in the gap. People study in which students underwent an introduction designed faced with difficult or ambiguous decisions may use their to make them experience either feelings of or emotions as a form of information. They may use their anger.34 Once these feelings had been evoked in the stu- immediate emotions and ask themselves, “How do I feel dents, they were asked to read a restaurant review that they about it?” and then utilize those feelings in making a deci- were told came from a newspaper but which had, in fact, sion.30 Immediate emotions that are positive are likely to been created for the experiment. The review featured an result in a positive evaluation of the product and a decision equal number of negative and positive statements about the to purchase it, while negative emotions will favor a negative restaurant. After the moods of the students had been neu- assessment and a decision to forego purchase. tralized, they were asked to evaluate the restaurant. Those Emotions resulting from one situation can affect deci- students who originally read the review in an angry mood sions in completely unrelated situations. This is a phenom- rated the restaurant far more negatively than those who enon that psychologists term “emotional carryover.”31 For read the review in a contented mood. Students who were example, suppose a selector receives news that the univer- in an angry mood were also much more likely to recall the sity has decided to curtail certain health-care benefits. He negative information about the restaurant, while those in a or she is angered by the news and, later that day, is faced positive mood were able to remember positive information with a decision about whether to acquire a new electronic more readily. In this experiment, mood appeared to have encyclopedia. The selector is ambivalent because, although an impact not only on the evaluation process, but also on the encyclopedia is a good one, it is also very expensive. The the memory process. Since reviews of new books or elec- residual anger from the morning’s news about the benefits tronic products often play an important role in the selection cut contributes to a negative disposition on the part of the process, mood may play a role in how selectors interpret selector. As a result, the selector decides not to acquire the reviews and also in how they selectively recall information encyclopedia. contained in them. Different kinds of emotions have different effects on the Mood can also have an effect on the intensity with level of cognitive processing that occurs in decision making. which a stereotype is held. In one experiment, various Emotions that are typified by a sense of certainty, such as means, such as music, were used to induce sad, happy, anger or contentment, result in more reliance on cognitive or neutral moods in a group of Canadian students.35 The shortcuts known as heuristics. Emotions that are character- students were then asked to describe typical personality ized by a lack of certitude such as or result traits of six ethnic groups who reside in Canada: English in more careful information seeking and analysis.32 Canadian, Native American, Jewish, Pakistani, Chinese, and Arabic. Each subject was asked to list whether he or she thought each trait was socially desirable or undesirable and Mood, Bias, and Stereotyping the percentage of the ethnic group that the subject thought had exhibited that trait. A stereotype score was then calcu- Mood has been shown to have an effect on persuasion lated for each group based on the traits attributed to the and stereotyping. Positive mood will not only predispose group and the subjects’ estimate of the percentage of the an individual to accept persuasive messages, but will also group exhibiting that trait. The results indicated that those 12 Quinn LRTS 51(1)

students who were in the sad mood induction group exhibit- that were significantly more influenced by mood. Based ed increased negativity of stereotypes for those groups with on this evidence, it seems likely that a selector will spend negative connotations. Sad subjects rated the negative attri- substantially more time and effort in deciding whether or butes of these groups as being more undesirable than did not to select an atypical title. It also seems probable that happy or neutral students. Ethnic groups that had neutral the decision will depend to a greater degree on the mood of connotations for the students were not greatly affected by the selector than if the title under consideration were more the differences in mood. Interestingly, students in a positive expected. mood and those in a negative mood both rated their own ethnic group highly. The experimenters attributed the result to sad subjects attempting to make themselves feel better Mood Incongruence, Contrast Effect, by denigrating other ethnic groups while at the same time and Overcorrection enhancing the social status of their own group. This suggests that selectors who hold stereotypical views of certain subject Although the preceding studies have suggested that indi- areas, authors, or formats may find these magnified when in viduals’ feelings will tend to influence their judgment a negative mood. toward closer alignment with their existing mood, this is not Mood may play a greater role in the decision-making always the case. In occasional instances, what psychologists process of persons for unusual, atypical, or complex stimuli. refer to as a “contrast effect” may occur.38 The results of Psychologists suspect that since the decision-making process some experiments indicate that subjects induced to feel sad for such targets involves longer and more substantial cogni- assessed the target more favorably than subjects who were tion, there is a greater likelihood that “affect infusion” (the made to feel in a happy mood. Researchers attribute this influence of emotions upon cognition) may occur. In con- mood incongruence to a psychological mechanism, contrast trast, any target or object that is prototypical or otherwise effect, which does not invalidate the multitude of previous standard can be easily comprehended and understood and studies that have found judgment and decision making to thus would require relatively little cognitive processing. be mood-congruent. Rather, it suggests that an additional In one experiment, the experimenter used a mood process may be involved in cases of affective asymmetry, in induction process to examine the effect of mood upon which negative emotions result in more positive evaluations memory and recall for atypical objects, in this case unusual than positive feelings. fictional characters in a story.36 Mood turned out to be a The process that psychologists believe is involved in significant factor in the amount of information subjects instances of contrast effect occurs when individuals become remembered about atypical targets, but not typical ones. conscious that their emotions may influence the evaluation Subjects who were in a sad mood had better recall for atypi- of an object. In an effort to counter this bias, they overcom- cal targets, while subjects in a happy mood were better able pensate and end up evaluating the object to an opposite to remember typical targets. The experimenter believed extreme of their original feeling. The overcorrection occurs that because subjects in a sad mood engage in a more in- because people tend to overestimate the degree to which depth, careful kind of processing, they were better able to their feelings influence their judgment. As a result, they not recall more unusual complex objects. Conversely, happy only exclude their own feelings about the object but also subjects, more prone to engage in superficial processing that ideas activated by the object to be evaluated.39 People’s ideas utilizes heuristic shortcuts, thus found it easier to remember are based on a layperson’s estimate of how feelings influence standardized objects. decisions and are thus not necessarily accurate and may be In a follow-up experiment, subjects were exposed to subject to distortion. photographs of couples.37 In some photos, the couples were Overcorrection was tested in an experiment in which a matched in terms of physical attractiveness, while in other group of subjects were induced to feel discomfort by hold- photos, the couples were mismatched. The prediction was ing both their arms out straight for six minutes.40 Another that the mismatched couples would generate more cognitive group of subjects were asked to rest both their arms com- processing and also more mood-influenced judgments. The fortably on a table for the same period of time. While this experimenter found that this was true, particularly in the was occurring, the subjects listened to a tape recording of case of mixed race couples, but that it did not prove true for a person reading an autobiographical statement written more conventional targets such as same-race couples. The as part of a job application for a position at the university. more visible the mismatch between partners, the more cog- When the statement was finished, half of the subjects were nitive activity occurred and the greater were the effects of asked to rate their feelings and the other half were asked mood on thinking. Subjects took longer to process informa- to participate in a word-association task that served as a tion about unusual couples, remembered information about distraction. Then all the subjects were given a questionnaire them better, and made evaluative decisions about them that asked them to rate the personal appeal of the job appli- 51(1) LRTS Cognitive and Affective Processes in Collection Management 13

cant, and then rate the level of discomfort they experienced made with particular faculty members in mind, if the selec- in their arms. The results of the experiment indicated that tor has a marked preference for or an aversion to particular the subjects who were distracted by the word-association faculty and is conscious of these biases, he or she may try to task exhibited predictable affective congruence. The more compensate by purchasing more titles that lie within areas discomfort they experienced, the lower they rated the job of research of less-favored faculty and, as a result, end up applicant. When the subjects were made aware of their feel- overcorrecting. ings, however, they exhibited the contrast effect. The worse they felt, the better they rated the applicant. The subjects who were aware of their discomfort realized that it would Conclusion bias their judgment and overcorrected for it in their assess- ments of the applicant. Collection management in general—and decision making Some psychologists believe that negative affect is more for collection development in particular—has been charac- likely to produce overcorrection than positive affect.41 This terized as a highly logical, rational process that is primarily is because negative affect tends to be associated with higher based on cognitive factors like attention, perception, mem- degrees of cognitive activity. The heightened degree of ory, and reasoning. The collection management literature cognitive activity is said to stem from negative affect signal- is devoid of discussion of any affective processes that may ing the person that something is wrong in the environment play a role in collection development decisions. Yet, as this and that strategies must be devised to address the problem. paper has tried to suggest, evidence in the psychological Negative emotions also tend to lead to inner-directed intro- literature suggests that affect does play an important role spection, which in turn may lead to heightened sensitivity in judgment and decision processes. The experimental to negative affect and a corresponding cognitive effort to evidence indicates that decision making is not exclusively a trigger the contrast effect and corresponding decisional cognitive process. Emotions do play a significant role, and overcorrection. this paper suggests that affect may interact with cognition in The psychological research described above suggests judgment and decision-making processes related to collec- that selectors who may be aware that they have a bias either tion management. in favor of or against a particular subject area, topic, or In order to make optimal collection-management deci- author may be vulnerable to the contrast effect. Knowing sions, selectors, of course, need to do the proper cognitive they have such a prejudice may lead them to attempt work, carefully researching the titles they are considering for to overcompensate for their preferences. Because non- purchase and investigating the needs and interests of their psychologists are not fully aware of the extent to which their potential audience, the faculty, and students. Competing feelings influence their judgment, when they try to achieve demands on cognitive processes, whether stemming from more of a balance in their selection decisions they may over- budgets, deadlines, or other library projects, may be inevi- correct and, ironically, end up shifting the selection balance table, so it helps to realize how these may affect decision to the other extreme. For example, the selector who knows making. Selectors also need to be aware of their emotions he has a strong interest in the theoretical aspects of sociol- and mood states and keep in mind how these may influence ogy may be acutely sensitive to this preference. In an effort cognitive considerations. Certain emotions, such as positive to compensate for this predilection, the selector may try to mood states, may make selectors less critical and evaluative place extra emphasis on ordering as many quantitative titles in the decision-making process. Whenever selectors find as possible. In years in which the publication of quantitative themselves in this state, they need to be particularly vigilant. titles is particularly strong, the selector may actually end up Affect may also influence memory, and since memory plays purchasing more quantitative than qualitative titles. an important role in decisions, selectors need to be wary of If a selector has an aversion to a particular author, selective memory. Emotions and mood may also be a fac- school, or genre, and is faced with a decision regarding tor in what selectors pay attention to, as well as the kind of whether or not to purchase a work that falls within that vein, product advertising that appeals to them. Selectors need to the selector may make a conscious attempt to deliberately be alert to emotionally incongruent material. Affect may purchase the title. Because the selector knows he or she is also play an important role in the selection process when biased against it, that bias may itself constitute the deciding information about the product is unavailable or ambiguous. factor in persuading the selector to acquire it. Since many Sticking to the facts as much as possible will discourage selectors also serve as liaisons to faculty in various depart- irrational or impulsive purchases. Some selectors may use ments, the bias may take place at a human level rather than their feelings as a form of information in selecting a product, a bibliographic one. Selectors, being human, may have cer- asking themselves how they feel about it, or even how they tain feelings, either positive or negative, about faculty within might feel about it. Awareness of feelings is advisable and the departments they work with. Since many purchases are desirable, but decisions should also be based on the best 14 Quinn LRTS 51(1)

evidence available. Emotions from one situation largely or relationship between thinking and feeling as they affect completely unrelated to selecting a title may nonetheless be decision making and choice. Librarians would do well carried over into the decision process, and selectors need to to keep abreast of their research and adapt it to conduct learn to compartmentalize their emotions. research of their own. Both positive and negative moods and emotions can predispose selectors to various forms of bias in the evaluation References and selection process. Unusual or atypical titles may be par- 1. Jean Boyer Hamlin, “The Selection Process,” in Collection ticularly susceptible to mood influence in the selection pro- Development in Libraries: A Treatise 2 vols., eds. Robert cess, and selectors need to take this into account when they D. Stueart and George B. Miller Jr. Part A, Foundations in encounter these titles. Finally, selectors need to be aware Library and Information Science 10 (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI of the contrast effect and the problem of overcorrection for Pr., 1980), 185–201. . Understanding this psychological mechanism 2. Ross Atkinson, “The Citation as Intertext: Toward a Theory might make selectors less prone to second-guessing them- of the Selection Process,” Library Resources & Technical selves in selection decisions and more circumspect about Services 28, no. 2 (1984): 109–19. efforts to correct for biases in their selecting. 3. John Rutledge and Luke Swindler, “The Selection Decision: This paper suggests important implications for how Defining Criteria and Establishing Priorities,” College & Research Libraries 48, no. 2 (1987): 123–31. selectors approach the process of collection development, 4. Beatrice Kovacs, The Decision-Making Process for Library and for how selectors are trained to do their work. Selectors Collections: Case Studies in Four Types of Libraries (New need to look at collection development as more than simply York: Greenwood, 1990). a logical, left-brained, rational calculus of searching for new 5. Lynn B. Williams, “Subject Knowledge for Subject Specialists: titles, weighing their strengths and weaknesses, speculating What the Novice Bibliographer Needs to Know,” Collection on their potential use, and then trying to make a selection Management 14, no. 3/4 (1991): 31–47. decision based on all the personal variables that come into 6. Robert M. Losee Jr., “Optimality and the Best Collection: play. They instead might try a more phenomenological The Goals and Rules of Selectors and Collection Managers,” approach, in which they make an effort to become acutely Collection Management 14, no. 3/4 (1991): 21–30. aware of their emotions and moods, take these into account, 7. G. Edward Evans, Developing Library and Information and then use them as data that might prove as valuable Center Collections, 4th ed. (Greenwood Village, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 2000). as understanding the product attributes and the potential 8. Peter Clayton and G. E. Gorman, Managing Information audience for it. The psychological evidence regarding the Resources in Libraries: Collection Management in Theory and various ways that affect can influence cognition in decision Practice (London: Library Assoc. Pubs., 2001). making argues for a more self-aware, introspective approach 9. Peggy Johnson, Fundamentals of Collection Development and to selection—one in which a selector’s mood states and Management (Chicago: ALA, 2004). emotions are potentially of great importance and should be 10. Peter M. 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